Algebra/Topology Seminar

Speaker: Jonas Schnitzer (Universita defli Studi di Salerno)

Title: Formality Theory in (formal) Deformation Quantization

Abstract: Deformation Quantization was introduced in the 70s and is based on Gerstenhaber's "On the Deformation of Rings and Algebras". The overall idea is very simple: Quantum Mechanics should be seen as a (small) deformation (or pertubation) of classical Newtonian Mechanics. The aim of this talk is to introduce the basic concepts of Deformation Quantization and explain the  relationship to  $L_\infty$-algebras and their morphisms. This allows us to understand the celebrated theorem by Kontsevich, which implies, as a corollary, that every classical system can be quantized (in a canonical way).